/N 3 0000000017 00000 n John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. >> However, the middle class intellectuals who supported the Society broke with Nkrumah because they were less committed to full-scale revolutionary effort. /ProcSet [/PDF /Text] Telling the business story of the late lawyer, senior law partner, Kojo Bentsil Enchil said the late Sarbah was the greatest aggregate of an achiever in the Gold Coast and in present day Ghana in the lawyer profession. Sarbah returned the guinea fee which the ARPS gave him for his work, as he regarded it as an honour to serve his country. stream His father sent him to England when he was sixteen to continue his education. He waborn at Cape Coast in 1864and was the eldest son of John Sarbaha merh nd o SaahHe He noted that the late lawyer did five hundred and sixty mineral cases in Accra, Secondi in the early 1990s. John Mensah Sarbah returned the 400-guinea fee which the ARPS gave him because he felt that it was an honor to serve his country. He made a lasting mark on national life in politics, education, and law. Prof. Nana Kobina Nketsia V, Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region in delivering the keynote address encouraged participants to emancipate and deconstruct their minds and share passionately the patriotism of the late John Mensah Sarbah, describing him as an embodiment of a deeply intellectual great son of the land. John Mensah Sarbah had opposed such proposals before, and people had expected him to oppose the amendment outright. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. If the content contained herein violates any of your rights, including those of copyright, and/or violates any the above mentioned factors, you are requested to immediately notify us using via the following email address operanews-external(at)opera.com and/or report the article using the available reporting functionality built into our Platform He touted the late lawyer as one who represented the largest number of three thousand cases at the Cape Coast Supreme court in his days. On his return to the Gold Coast, he became a leading critic of British Imperial rule. x}$9Z|_ /.!3n93. The statue of Queen Victoria at Victoria park in Cape Coast is a sign of treaty between ARPS and the British Government to abandon the Lands Bill. 0000001010 00000 n Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society, Influences on the founding of the Gold Coast ARPS, Perception of aims of the Gold Coast ARPS, S. K. B. Asante, "The neglected aspects of the activities of the Gold Coast Aborigines Rights Protection Society. John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. 22 29 W. T. Balmer. He also identified the need for good interpreters in the courts, and proposed the establishment of a school for court interpreters. This article was reprinted from The Encyclopedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography (In 20 Volumes). [10], The impact of the Gold Coast ARPS' interaction with global pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist movements rested on the ability of these interactions to not only bring the grievances of the Gold Coast natives to the global stage but also to help the Gold Coast ARPS gain leverage with which to lobby the colonial government in Gold Coast to recognize the legitimacy of their cultural nationalist and political aims. Publications such as Gold Coast Nation and Gold Coast Times came from this organization. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895-97) refused to withdraw the bill, John Mensah Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to England to petition against its passage. Magnus Sampson, Gold Coast Men of Affairs, London, 1937. We promise to be discrete. When the Gold Coast Native Jurisdiction Ordinance (1883) was being amended in 1910, Section 29 caused a stir among the people because they felt it would empower the governor to usurp the rights of the people in the destooling of chiefs. He was Born into a wealthy family, and studied law in England. In 1887 he was called to the bar and qualified as a barrister. /Filter [/FlateDecode ] Having successfully forced the colonial government to abort the implementation of the Lands Bill, the ARPS tackled other objectionable colonial policies, including forced labor, taxation, indirect rule, and the lack of African representation on the Legislative Council. Alternate Names: Kofi Mensa At the age of 23, he returned to the Gold Coast to set up a legal practice. As a lawyer, John Mensah Sarbah was interested in spreading knowledge of Fanti laws and of theFanti Constitution. In 1892 his father died, arid he also took over his fattiers business. 0000001690 00000 n L. H. Ofosu-Appiah. His suggestion, which was an improvement on the amendment, was not accepted. [4], The Gold Coast ARPS formed as a conglomerate of different groups of intellectuals in Cape Coast and Southern Ghana who sought to protect the traditional land tenure practices of the indigenous Gold Coast peoples from being usurped by the British colonial government. These newspapers, read by the African intelligentsia and Europeans, including government officials, in the Gold Coast, were used as political platforms to call attention to African demands. de Graft-Johnson, Jacob Wilson Sey, J. P. Brown, J. E. Casely Hayford, and John Mensah Sarbah were co-founders. He encouraged farmers to grow cocoa and gave them loans for the purpose. [10] The Gold Coast ARPS was particularly interested in the Pan-African Conference that took place in July 1900 in London, the first conference of its kind to occur. John Mensah Sarbah CMG (3 June 1864 27 November 1910)[1] was a lawyer and political leader in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). The Mfantsi Amanbuhu Fekuw had been founded in 1889 to promote African cultural values that were being undermined by the corrosive effects of the European presence. He was born on 3rd June 1864, in Anomabu in the Fante Confederacy in the Gold Coast. John Mensah Sarbah was born on Friday, 3 June 1864, in Anomabu, in the . 25 0 obj Required fields are marked *. /Resources << This website uses cookies to improve your experience. This led in 1904 to the foundation ofMfantsipim School, which in 1906 merged with the Collegiate School, retaining the name of Mfantsipim School. They sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. From Taunton he matriculated to Lincoln's Inn to train as a barrister. He died in 1910, without, however, making any provision in his will for the education of his children, probably because he believed that the Akan family system would cater for them. John Mensah Sarbah was interested in promoting agriculture, and wrote an article on The Oil Palm and Its Products in 1909. These cookies do not store any personal information. Although he accepted the basic assumptions of the British imperial regime, he felt that some of the evils of the crown colony system should be checked. The Gold Coast Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS) was formed in 1897 in the historic city of Cape Coast, a hub of intellectual and political activism in Ghana. ", This page was last edited on 17 March 2022, at 16:53. John Mensah Sarbah was interested in promoting secondary education because he felt that it was the best way to enable Africans to gain the respect of the civilized world. His first act in this direction was to found a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. 0000019978 00000 n Fanti National Constitution, London, 1906. 0000020963 00000 n The leader of the Ahanta tribe in the Western Region and a Ghanaian king Badu Bonsu II was executed in 1838 and the head cut off by the Dutch. My latest banger got nothing to do with Mahama - Volkano_KM. By his publications he began the tradition of educated nationalist politicians finding time to write about their countrys history and institutions. The learned lawyer said in 1908 to 1910, the late John Mensah Sarbah financed Cocoa farmers across the country. 0000029808 00000 n [5] The Gold Coast ARPS then sent a delegation to London in order to advocate for the dismissal of the Lands Bill of 1897 in front of Joseph Chamberlain, the Secretary of State of Britain at the time. John Mensah Sarbah was the first lawyer of the Gold Coast that helped in the documentation of the customary laws of the Gold Coast and present day Ghana. The Sacking of 8 SHS Girls for Slandering The President: Examining The Missing Father Equation, Gone but not forgotten by the Phobians fraternity as Hearts captain pens goodbye message to the fans, Seven Important Good Parenting Tips Parents Have To Know, Leaked Tape: NLA Deputy CEO "Rubbishes" Danquah Dombo Busia Tradition, Man City crushed out of the Carabao Cup; Jamie Redknapp slams Guardiola's side for poor performance, Opera News is a free to use platform and the views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent, reflect or express the views of Opera News. Over 50 years after his death, the University of Ghana, in 1963, named Mensah Sarbah Hall after him for his services to education. /Type /Catalog The delegation, which Sarbah refused out of modesty to lead, went to London in 1898, and succeeded in getting the Lands Bill disallowed. Originally established by traditional leaders and the educated elite to protest the Crown Lands Bill of 1896 and the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened traditional land tenure, the Gold Coast ARPS became the main political organisation that led organised and sustained opposition against the colonial government in the Gold Coast, laying the foundation for political action that would ultimately lead to Ghanaian independence. The idea of forming the society had been incubated as early as 1895, but was shelved until May 17, 1897, when a meeting organized by the African intelligentsia in Cape Coast to protest the proposed Lands Bill of 1894 to 1897 culminated in the formation of the society. For much of the southern regions of the Gold Coast, the ARPS gained political ascendancy because of its ability to capitalize on publicity in the local newspapers. 0000019838 00000 n In 1963, a residence hall of the University of Ghana was named Mensah Sarbah Hall in his honour for his services to education,[8] with a statue of John Mensah Sarbah is in front of it. Although colonial society was dominated by men, throughout the period of colonial rule several women's groups teamed up with men or supported men in anticolonial protest politics. John Mensah Sarbah was a good legislator, He was nominated as a member of the Legislative Council by the governor, Sir Mathew Nathan (term of office, 1900- 1904), in 1901 and sat except for a short break, as a member until his death. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (The Revelation), Education in Africa: The Impact of Colonialism, Why The Legendary Geneva Bible was Banned. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. However, the Gold Coast ARPS was interested not only in the protection of the rights of the native peoples in the Gold Coast but also with the larger global struggles of the African diaspora, including the United States, Europe and the West Indies. This reform, too, has now been adopted. The ARPS remained the voice of colonized Africans until its demise in the 1930s. (The distinction, as he had suggested, was to be abolished in 1960.). Mr. Henry Kwadwo Amoako is a Ghanaian Social Scientist, Researcher and Acclaimed Historian for over two decades. [9], John Mensah Sarbah was dedicated to the promotion of secondary education and was responsible for various initiatives, including the founding of a Dutton scholarship at Queen's College, Taunton, in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. This achievement saved the Gold Coast from the evils of the alienation of African land, as occurred, for example, in the British colony of Kenya. The influence of this conference on the members of the Gold Coast ARPS was a renewed belief that, eventually, the indigenous African peoples would be able to successfully rise up against the European colonial powers that had ruled over them for centuries and begin to govern themselves. As a legislator he was interested in law reform, and tried his best to prevent the passage of laws inimical to the interests of his countrymen. /Type /Page [11] These criticisms of the desires and motives of the Gold Coast ARPS are strengthened by the outcome of the Native Administration Ordinance of 1927, which allowed chiefs of indigenous Gold Coast groups to have direct interaction with the colonial government. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sarbah returned the 400-guinea fee which the ARPS gave him because he felt that it was an honor to serve his country. THE FE OF JOHN MENSAH SARBAH ah Sarbah (June 31864November 271910), patriot and statesmanwas one of te o o g atonalsts of the Gold Coast at the end of the 19th century and the begnnng othe 0 e atng ark on national life in politics, education, and law. Please accept by clicking on the 'Accept' button on your screen. His first act in this direction was to found a Dutton scholarship at Taunton School in memory of his younger brother, Joseph Dutton Sarbah, who had died there in 1892. The ARPS used the money to establish a press, which published The Gold Coast Nation (founded 1912) and The Gold Coast Times (founded 1923). In understanding the critiques of the Gold Coast ARPS nationalists aims, it is important to note that much of the skepticism about the true intentions of the members of the Gold Coast ARPS came from British colonial administrators who were dismissive of the attempts of the Gold Coast ARPS to oppose the Lands Bill of 1897. >> He played a major role in the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society (ARPS), founded to oppose the 1896 Crown Lands Bill and the 1897 Lands Bill that . J. M. Sarbah, Fanti Customary Laws, London, 1897. Hutchison's Pen Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities1", "The Aborigines Society, Kwame Nkrumah and the 1945 Pan-African Congress", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gold_Coast_Aborigines%27_Rights_Protection_Society&oldid=1077681957, 1890s establishments in Gold Coast (British colony), Articles with unsourced statements from June 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Asante, S. K. B. [5] The Gold Coast ARPS became a voice for the rights of indigenous peoples by both broadcasting their aims in their own newspaper, Gold Coast Aborigines, and advocating on behalf of indigenous land rights by presenting the reasons for their dissent of the Lands Bill of 1897 in front of the Legislative Council. Sarbah is said to have given the school its motto (Dwin Hwe Kan, meaning Think and Look Ahead) as well as its emblem. He therefore published two books, Fanti Customary Laws (1897), and Fanti National Constitution (1906). John Mensah Sarbah was one of the pioneers of Ghanaian politics and a distinguished African politician in the Gold Coast in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But his interest in politics, which he had shown during his student days in England led him to take a more active part in political life. It has emerged that he was a business man par excellence who groomed his late fathers business in agriculture and mining merchandise in the Gold Coast era. Although the formation of the ARPS was due to the cumulative effects of colonial rule in the late nineteenth century, the immediate reason for its formation was the Lands Bill. 0000015327 00000 n He entered Lincolns Inn in London in 1884 to study law, and qualified as a barrister in 1887, being the first African from the Gold Coast to gain this qualification. [3], J.W. Although the Lands Bill was its immediate preoccupation, the aims of the ARPS were broad and encompassing. [5] It was through their meeting with Joseph Chamberlain that the Gold Coast ARPS was able to get support for the denunciation of the Lands Bill of 1897 and the assurance that "native law would remain and prevail with regard to devolution of land". Sarbah House, at Mfantsipim, is named for him. Subscribe to receive notification everytime a new post is published. [11] Specifically, many of the members of the Gold Coast ARPS had been educated abroad and were part of an African upper class class that would take over the administration of the Gold Coast should the region be granted independence from colonial rule and thus hold similar power to that of the colonialists over their indigenous brethren. /CropBox [0.0000 0.0000 595.2756 841.8898] >> Overall, however, the protest politics of the ARPS went beyond mere reformism. Methodist Joseph William Egyanka Appiah (later Jemisimiham Jehu-Appiah) later became a member through Attoh Ahuma, and was part of the delegation that went to UK to protest to the Queen to release all Ghana lands into the hands of natives. His Fanti Customary Laws is still regarded as an indispensable book for lawyers in Ghana. The ARPS remained the voice of colonized Africans until its demise in the 1930s. When Governor Sir William Maxwell (term of office 1895-97) refused to withdraw the bill, Sarbah advised the ARPS to send a delegation to England to petition against its passage. endobj In 1892 Sarbah led the fight against a bill that proposed to transfer administration of public lands from African chiefs to British officials. /Info 21 0 R According to him, what was clear is that he operated his chambers from the late fathers office at the Commercial Street in Cape Coast. The ARPS opposed the Lands Bill of 1897, which threatened the traditional system of African land tenure, and sent Sarbah to argue against its passage in the Legislative Council. The delegation was successful because the Colonial Office later asked the colonial government to abandon the Lands Bill and the hut tax. Instead, he suggested that the dismissal or the suspension of chiefs should be carried out by a resolution of the Legislative Council instead of by Order in Council. An idea of particular interest to the Gold Coast ARPS was the creation of trade among "all of us who are of African blood". John Mensah Sarbah was born in Cape Coast on 3 June 1864. xref Apart from various petitions issued by the ARPS, the society also sent delegations to meet with the colonial government. [5] Particularly, John Mensah Sarbah, a key member of the Gold Coast ARPS and a lawyer, helped to advocate against the introduction of the Lands Bill of 1897 by arguing that it was no different from a previous, unsuccessful bill in 1894; that its introduction would break family and society ties, and that the land was valuable to indigenous peoples for its religious significance. Upon returning from a visit to Europe in 1903 together with William Edward Sam, John Mensah Sarbah and Sam promoted an enterprise called the Fanti Public Schools Limited. /Size 51 There he fought the Native Jurisdiction Bill, which gave Fante chiefs exclusive powers to administer local laws. 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